Explore Alaska (From The Comfort of Your RV!): Part One

My husband wanted to see the “vast wilderness” of Alaska and I was fascinated by the culture and history. We received an advertisement that told us we could enjoy both! We decided to rent an RV and explore some of the interior of Alaska, then take a southbound cruise. An article about how we selected our cruise appeared in the August 10th issue of PassPorter News. In this article you will learn the details about renting an RV as well as the campgrounds we stayed in.

We looked at several RV rental companies and quickly decided on Great Alaskan Holidays. Although at first glance their prices were more expensive, I liked the fact that most everything we would need was included in the price - no extra charges for cleaning (they clean it when you bring it back), using the generator, etc. The price includes linens, dishes and common kitchen items, 2 folding chairs, and more. There are extra items that you can pay to add on (like a cooler for fish), but we didn’t need any of these items.

There were options to pay by the mile or for unlimited mileage. Considering the distances we were planning on traveling, we decided unlimited mileage was a better deal for us. We did travel enough miles that the option easily paid for itself. One more rental decision to make is whether to pre-pay for gasoline and propane. We decided it would be easy enough to fill-up the gas tank just down the street from the rental location when we returned the RV. The price to prepay the propane was relatively small, so we decided to do that. We weren’t sure where in Anchorage you could refill propane tanks, but we knew gas stations were everywhere.

Great Alaskan Holidays has a shuttle that will pick you up at and/or take you to the airport. You need to call them and schedule a pick-up time. Someone just walked in when we were there and was sent away with a time later in the day to come back. Everything you need to know (even the fact that you have to call to schedule a pick-up time) is in the paperwork they send you before your vacation. All drivers must watch a safety/driving video before you can fill out the paperwork and be on your way. Plan at least an hour to pick-up your RV. Don’t make significant driving plans for the first day since your pick-up time and how long it will take to get the RV are not guaranteed.

For us, the RV was a great solution. We had a 30’ motor home with 2 slide-outs. We were amazed by the additional space the slide-outs provided. We had 4 adults and 2 teenagers so two hotel rooms would have been needed. Although I have heard people say they have found nice Bed and Breakfast locations for under $100/night, I found most hotels were in the $150 to $250 per night range. Our RV was around $200/day. Some of the stretches of road were long and it was really nice to have a restroom and food always available. We also had much greater flexibility on where we wanted to stop in the evenings with the RV. One thing you definitely need to plan for with an RV is how you will cope with the close to 24 hours a day of sunlight. Our camper had 3 skylights, making it impossible to darken the RV for sleeping.